ALBANY, Ga. - Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany and Marine Corps Logistics Command Family Readiness Officers hope to have two new e-Marine Web sites activated by Jan. 1, 2012, to communicate family readiness information and notifications with their respective service members, retirees, civilian-Marines and family members.

Marcus White, MCLB Albany FRO, and Salina McBride, Logistics Command FRO, will each have separate websites for the base and Logistics Command to provide more secure communication between their commands and sites’ members.

Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Marine and Family Programs Division, has partnered with Marine Forces Pacific to implement eMarine, according to the web- site, www.emarine.org, and Marine Administrative Message 499/11, dated Aug. 31.
The eMarine website provides a secure environment in which information, resources, and support are available to users 24 hours a day, regardless of geographic location, according to information posted on www.emarine.org.

An overview of the site, posted on eMarine, describes it as providing all of the functionality of a FRO in an ad-hoc and online setting to meet the needs of geographically-dispersed units and families across all components of the Marine Corps. eMarine is a commander’s tool that allows them to communicate directly to Marines and family members. Unit sites can be accessed any time to view information and photos, read stories, ask questions, participate in forums and much more.

“It will be a one-stop shop for official communication between the command, Marines, sailors and their families,” White said. “It will be a site where we can post things such as newsletters, other kinds of important information about events on base and also information in regards to services being offered on base.”

He added that “having one place to go to a centralized source for communication and information saves [them] time, eliminates unnecessary steps of having to keep up with various resource information when they can just go to that one centralized location, and most of the time, find what they need to find out.”

Users will need a password and their information will be transferred from the Marine Online tool to the e-Marine tool, White said.

“The way it’s going to work is information fed from Marine Online will be [a collaboration] with the e-Marine website,” she said. “[In] our initial push for this program we will actually be able to upload all the Marines who belong to base and who belong to [Logistics Command], so Marcus will be able to upload all the base Marines via Marine Online [and I will be able to upload all the Logistics Command Marines via Marine Online].”
White recommended that all service members update their information on Marine Online.

“It’s important that all the Marines are updated in their information on the Marine Online tool because whoever’s not in the Marine Online tool currently will not be uploaded onto the eMarine site,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they can’t be put in, but it will be an easier, smoother process if they’re already uploaded on Marine Online system.”

“The good thing with the standing up of eMarine is that Marine Online will not be taken away,” White said. “It will still remain as a tool we can utilize.”

McBride added that civilian-Marines have access to Marine Online and can update their family readiness information on it.
McBride described Headquarters Marine Corps’ vision as getting all social networking onto one site.

“This is Headquarters Marine Corps’ vision to get all the social networking tools consolidated into one website, to get us off of the social networking sites because the Department of Defense doesn’t have control over the social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook,” she said. “If Facebook decides to close their site down tomorrow [DoD has] no say and there goes our communication with our families.”

Because this is strictly a DoD website, it’s a more secure way to communicate, McBride said.

“[For civilian-Marines], it’s in a working phase to figure out what they are looking for when it comes to a website,” McBride said. “Unfortunately, the majority of civilian-Marines on this base don’t know these programs here are available to them. We hope to put on [it] on-base and off-base programs and resource, local and virtual. We’re trying to touch every part of our demographics.”

McBride noted that Logistics Command’s marketing campaign about the new site will hopefully kick off during the first part of December.

White added that he will try to coincide with McBride’s dates so they can roll them out at the same times and a link will be provided on MCLB Albany’s website to eMarine.

Both said people can e-mail them their information if they are not on Marine Online.

To reach White, call him at (229) 639-8896 or email him at marcus.white@usmc.mil. To reach McBride, call her at (229) 639-7147 or email her at salinamarri.mcbride@usmc.mil.